VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Penny Williams at the opening of Ubud writers and readers festival 2023 - 

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams PSM opened the panel discussion ‘Enduring Connections: Celebrating Australia-Indonesia Friendship’ on Saturday 21 October at Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2023 (UWRF).

The panel featured an impressive line-up including Janet DeNeefe - founder and director of UWRF, Riri Riza – award winning film director, Elena Williams - board member Australia-Indonesia Institute and educator, Abdi Karya - internationally acclaimed artist, and Dr. Kirrilee Hughes - education consultant and researcher.

The audience enjoyed a lively discussion on what it means for Australia and Indonesia to be close neighbours and how both countries maintain strong ties.

Touching on the long-shared history, including as far back as Makassan and Yolŋu peoples trading with each other and more recent examples such as New Colombo Plan students and Australia Award recipients, and demonstrating that people-to-people relationships are at the heart of our story.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Penny Williams PSM, said the festival is a wonderful example of strengthening mutual understanding between Australia and Indonesia.

“I am pleased the Australian Government continues to support UWRF as a cross-cultural platform to build inter-cultural understanding and long-term links between Australian and Indonesian literary communities,” she said.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, this year’s marks the 20th anniversary of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF). The festival continues to attract an array of Australian talent, including fiction and nonfiction authors, poets, arts managers, industry leaders and academics.

"For the last two decades, the festival has become a vessel to celebrate the quality and diversity of writers in both countries,” Ambassador Williams said.

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta and the Australian Consulate-General in Bali have been proud supporters of the festival since the inaugural event in 2004//VOI

The Head of Indonesian Library, Syarif Bando take pictures with other participants in Belarusia - 

The National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) participated in the X International Conference with the theme Libraries as a Cultural Phenomenon.

This activity took place at the Belarusian National Library for two days, Thursday-Friday (19-20/10/2023).
Head of the National Library of Belarus, Vadzim Hihin opened the conference dedicated to commemorating the Year of Peace and Creation.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Roman Golovchenko, in his speech expressed his hope that all participants present could work well and communicate professionally.

For ten years, the conference has been the official discussion platform in Belarus for discussing issues and trends in the library community.

At the plenary session, all heads and authoritative specialists of the largest libraries, archives, museums, publishing houses, research organizations and educational institutions, manufacturers of software, hardware, information products and industrial equipment for libraries discussed the national identity as well as international cooperation of libraries.

Cultural diplomacy acts as an opportunity for peace in conditions of geopolitical confrontation, the influence of external factors on the acquisition of libraries and the provision of services.

The Director of the National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando, during the coffee break session, gave a testimony: according to him, the theme raised at the X International Conference was the inevitability of the presence of the digital era in carrying out digital transformation of library services to all users, especially the millennial generation.

Furthermore, the Head of the National Library added that Indonesia had carried out a digital transformation program for the library and produced 5 (five) digital library products, namely iPusnas, e-Resources, Khastara, BintangPusnas, and creative content produced by National Library librarians.

The Director of the National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando, at the gala dinner expressed his appreciation for the invitation given and said that library management in Indonesia consists of collection management by 10%, knowledge management by 20%, and knowledge transfer by 70%.

"Currently, what is a national program and has full support from the Indonesian government is Library Transformation Based on Social Inclusion (TPBIS). "This program makes the library a center for community activities that have an impact on independence and welfare," he said.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, this conference was organized in collaboration with the Belarusian Library with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Belarus and the National Library of Belarus with the support of interstate funds for humanitarian cooperation of member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States or CIS (Commonwealth Independent States) and the Belarusian Library Association.

The participants who attended came from various countries including Russia, Indonesia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Activities held on the first day included breakout sessions, exhibitions of publishing products, electronic information resources and services, discussion forums with the theme Digital Transformation of Library Activities and Trend Formation: Innovative Activities of Regional Libraries.

On the second day, two discussion sessions were held entitled Project Initiatives and Socio-Cultural Practices of Cultural and Educational Institutions, as well as Scientific and Organizational Support for Library Activities.

On the same occasion, a memorandum of understanding was also signed between the National Library and the National Library of Belarus.

Also part of the conference was the opening of the exhibition Treasures of Books of the Kuteinsky Monastery, dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Holy Epiphany Kuteinsky Monastery//VOI

"The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno" at the Sapta Pesona Building, Central Jakarta - 

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf) fully supports the implementation of the World Hydropower Congress in Nusa Dua, Bali which will be held 31 October – 2 November 2023.

In "The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno" at the Sapta Pesona Building, Central Jakarta, Monday (16/10/2023), Menparekraf/Kabaparekraf Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said that the hydroelectric power plant congress with the theme "Powering Sustainable Growth" was expected to be able to produce solutions and innovation in an effort to strengthen sustainable tourism and prioritize a green economy.

Apart from that, Sandiaga believes this event will be able to increase the number of foreign tourist visits, where there will be more than 1000 delegates and 175 high-level speakers from 120 countries attending the congress, which will be held offline for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This congress gives us a message to respond quickly to the phenomenon of climate change. One of our efforts to prevent the impact of climate change is to utilize green and renewable energy," said Sandiaga.

Apart from that, the Director of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Baparekraf Masruroh said that the theme of this event was also in line with the direction of Indonesian tourism development which prioritizes environmental sustainability.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, this and the great potential of holding an International MICE congress on a large scale is one of the reasons why the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy provides full support for the implementation of this event, starting from the bidding process to publication on social media.

"This is in accordance with (Indonesia's) tourism (development) vision, encouraging MICE events that (support) _green tourism_. So not only does it bring in tourists, this event itself is also in accordance with Indonesia's tourism vision. This activity is also part of "ASEAN chairmanship program as well as being a road to the World Water Forum (WWF) 2024 program in Bali," said Iyung, his nickname.

Meanwhile, President Designate of the International Hydropower Association (IHA), Malcolm Turnbull, added that water is a new and renewable energy without emissions. And this should be utilized by the nations of the world as a substitute for fossil energy sources.

"I hope that this conference can convince relevant parties throughout the world to achieve a zero-emission energy transition through the use of hydroelectric power plants," said Malcom, who served as Prime Minister of Australia for the 2015-2018 period.

This event was also attended by the IHA Representative in Indonesia, Nick Nurrachman//VOI

Adin on the talk show Increasing the Community Literacy Index - 

In the book Literacy Of Life it is said that public literacy is correlated with economic growth in a country. It is believed that the impact of strong literacy will result in lower crime, higher social awareness and increased life chances.

This was conveyed by the Deputy for National Library Resource Development, Adin Bondar, when attending the inauguration of the regional management of the Indonesian Librarian Association (PD IPI) Jambi Province and the talk show Increasing the Community Literacy Index, Tuesday (17/10/2023).

“No developed country has people who don't read. "Everything is knowledge-based," said Adin.

Therefore, the development of human qualities must remain consistently strengthened. One way is through literacy.
When people read, continued Adin, a transfer of knowledge will occur. Knowledge does not stop with one person. Because when reading becomes a habit, human cognition is suddenly active so that they are encouraged to produce innovation and creativity which leads to productivity.

Learning activities are not always obtained in a formal environment. But it can also be done through non-formal education, such as libraries.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, Jambi Governor's Expert Staff for Social and Religious Affairs of the Jambi Province Muktamar Hamdi, believes that human quality is one of the big problems in Jambi.

So, it is not surprising that the poverty rate in Jambi is quite high, namely 6.7%. Therefore, the Jambi government has included improving human resources in the vision and mission of Jambi Mantap.

“Our big problem is the quality of human resources. "And three things that need to be considered are infrastructure to reduce logistics costs, improve bureaucracy, and develop human resources," added Handi.

If economic growth is consistent in 2045, Indonesia will become a developed country. It is predicted that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be around IDR 9.8 trillion, below China, America and India.

Currently, the Jambi provincial government has the DUMISATU program (2 billion 1 district/city). This program encourages accelerated educational improvement so that conditions for the transfer of knowledge remain guaranteed.

The lack of literacy skills, especially among students, is certainly a problem. Chairman of LP2M UIN STS Jambi Ayub Mursalin called it the heart of university or heart of education. Therefore, the existence of libraries as the heart of education should not be ignored.

"If the library doesn't develop, then the others won't develop either," explained Ayub.

If the physical development of the building is inadequate, Ayub suggests taking advantage of the library's digital services. This should no longer be a reason for users to come to the library.

Education and libraries are like trees and roots. The roots are not visible but they are able to support them with their strength, said the appointed Chairman of the PD IPI Jambi Province, Hasudungan Ambarita.

National Library's attention to the province of Jambi is shown in the form of assistance for the construction of public library service buildings in the cities of Sungai Banyak and Batanghari to the expansion of the building using special allocation funds (DAK), stimulants for mobile library cars in the amount of 25 units in all districts/cities in Jambi Province, 9 units in Corner Digital Reading (POCADI) as well as assistance for the needs of Social Inclusion Based Library Transformation (TPBIS)//VOI